Saturday, September 6, 2008

Tea: Sakura SenchaVendor: Den's Tea / UwajimayaVendor Description: While the Sakura (cherry blossom) is appreciated for its beauty in Japan, its leaf has a unique flavor that enhances the taste of some traditional dishes. Our blend of Sakura (Cherry) Sencha is a harmony of the two flavors where one does not overpower the other.

About this tea: This tea comes around in the months before the may shincha flush. This tea was offered on Den's Tea's website earlier this year, but was rather quickly sold out. I was at a Uwajimaya a bit ago and ran across some in the packaged teabag form. Since I missed out on the release earlier this year I felt like trying some out.

Teabag: Den's tea uses tetrahedral bags using a nylon like material similar to many other teabags. These teabags felt a bit smaller though than other teabags, and rightfully so. The teabags are labeled as being 2g. each where most teabags using tetrahedral packaging are in the 4-5g range.

1st Infusion: When the teabag was fully infused it looked as though the leaf was straining on the sides of the teabag meaning that the teabag was a bit too small for the amount of tea. This restricts the flow of the tea and proper expansion. The infusion had a light yellow green color and a light floral aroma. There were hints of cherry flavoring that was not like a ripe cherry or cherry cough syrup (The more common flaovrings that I have run across for cherry flavored items). There is a sweetness to the aroma that reminds me of cherry ice cream. The cherry flavor in the tea is very light just as the sencha flavor itself is. The flavor is crisp and has a light sense of astringency. All in all this is a well balanced tea between the cherry flavoring and the sweetness of the tea.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: While this tea has a nice flavor the flavor was too light in my opinon. A more robust cherry flavor and tea flavor would have been more enjoyable. The teabag itself was a bit too small in my opinion and should have been larger. Come next year if it is offered again though I intend to get some to try it out as the loose variety instead of the smaller teabags.